Movement at last

Just a quick post to note that we were assigned a case number in early January - our lawyer didn't pass the information until now. So it's nice to know that the clock really is ticking and the process really has begun. I'm excited and hopeful that our case will find mercy this time around. I want to come live with my love in Toronto. I want to become a Canadian,

Bad Timing, that's all

I love that Blue Rodeo song.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the latest statistics on immigration processing wait times and my own application, it seems to be an applicable title.

Since 2004, wait times are up 20%. Yikes. I wondered why I hadn't heard anything yet from my lawyer, and this information released by the Liberals gives me a good reason. Our application is probabably still in the in box.

The Tories say they inherited big backlogs upon taking power. Oh poo - I don't buy that. The numbers were what they were and they are what they are. Everyone at the time knew Canada was actively trying to attract more skilled workers, as well as opening up new options for the family class. Did they think they would get through all these new applications without applying some increased manpower to the processing? In the US, we call that an "unfunded mandate" - in Canada, it's still the Liberal's fault.

Come on Stephen - this is the essence of managing growth.

Read the Star article here

Integration of the next generation

I just finished reading an editorial by Mehdi Rizvi in the Star regarding the challenges immigrants face in integrating with Candian culture. The editorial also took a stab at the stresses put on 2nd generation immigrants who's parents may resist the unstoppable conversion of their children's identity from one they understand (their own) to one they don't (Canada's).

Let's face it - we all grow up burdened with our parent's view of the world and culture and at one point we all shake it off in favor of our own. While that change may be a radical one for immigrants, it is certainly not a foreign one. Every generation experiences it. Second generation Canadians are, after all, Canadians. They may be hyphenated by race or color or religion, but not by birth. Like all of us, they cannot help but to ultimately be of their time and of their place in the world.

Those that face the biggest challenge are in fact first generation immigrant children. They have been raised learning the rules of their country and society only to be uprooted and caused to learn another. Imagine how difficult that must be...Just when you thought you had it all figured out, the rules change on you.

But from these rough experiences, Canada has gained character. Let's remember to have compassion especially toward those children engaged in that particular struggle.

(read the Star article here)

A quiet January

Well, here it is halfway into the first month of the new year and all is quiet on the immigration front. Our application is in, we are waiting for our case number or sponsorship approval or both, and the days seem to fly by.

I'm saddened by the fact that I missed another New Year in Toronto, that I'm going to miss Winter City Weekends and the Winterlicious dining deals and another season of skating at Nathan Phillips Square, and NOT getting tickets to a single Maple Leafs game...but I'm trying to deal with it.

When I started the Expatriate Mind, the idea was to explore what it's like for an American to leave one home for another - Canada. But now, I feel more and more like a Canadian expatriate living in the US. I'm not really connected with the US in many meaningful ways anymore, save family. I don't approve or agree with the country's politics, I don't like how exclusionary we have become - the "close the border" mentality. I don't approve of how Geo-centric we are (the world outside the US doesn't matter to most US citizens), or our dominating ways on the world stage. I don't approve of the police state we have become.

So I am a stranger in my own land now, waiting to return to my love and my home of choice - Toronto. In the quiet doldrums of the New Year, that's what's on this expatriate's mind.

Happy New Year

Hi readers! Well, the holiday is over and the Mind is back to consider all things immigration once again. Winter is a good time to ponder after all. I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday with friends and family. Mine was okay, but as I am still separated from my love, it wasn't as happy as it will be in the future.

I miss my love so much. We must've talked a half-dozen times a day over each day of the holiday. Then last night - New Year's Eve, we talked that many times, plus I called her at the New Year and she stayed up until 3am to call me too.

May this be the last New year we spend apart.

Lord, hear my prayer...

Just like the CBC...

Hi readers,
just like the CBC, it's the holidays here in the blogisphere and The Mind is busy getting ready for Christmas and New Years. And that means - vacation! While I'll try and keep up some posts over the break, I wont make you any promises.

I do hope God blesses each and every one of you this Christmas, and brings you a wonderful New Year, full of amazing adventures.

And what do I want for Christmas? To come home to Toronto, of course! And I'm excited that it wont be too much longer before I know if that is going to happen or not...

Merry Christmas!
J

A little time together

My love came out to Seattle for a nice visit this last week - the planning for and enjoyment of which may explain the lack of posts. We had a few nice days playing tourists in Seattle: dining at wonderful restaurants, staying in a couple nice hotels, but it all passes by too soon.

I'm so glad to be back in line, with the hope that soon, vacations together like this will end with both of us boarding Air Canada together to return to Pearson - no longer a family separated, but instead one reunited.

I hope your holiday season is off to as wonderful a start as mine has been, and you too can share it with the ones you love.

Part of the solution - some sites providing immigrant resources

I was thinking the other day that sometimes I tend to rant a little on this here blog about how difficult it is for immigrants to find out what they need to know to make a successful transition into Canadian life. I guess no one (except, sometimes, the government) ever promised us a rose garden...

Then I thought, you know, J - you can use this here blog to gather some of those resources and help people who may not have stumbled onto them yet. So, in that spirit, I'll try and be better about posting the sites that I find here on The Mind.

My caveat will be that what I post may be a bit Ontario/Toronto-centric - but why that is should be obvious!

Here we go - I hope these are of assistance to you.

Settlement.org - a cool site for those of us heading for Ontario, full of helpful information on getting oriented. Employment, education, housing, health and more are covered.

World Education Services - need your education credentials verified? This firm has been awarded the contract to do just that for Ontario.

Access to Professions and Trades - this portal will help you understand the often complicated and difficult road trained professionals in other countries must follow in order to put their hard-earned professional skills to work in Canada. Try not to get irritated...

Directory of immigration resources - The BC government has put together this resource guide - very complete and helpful! Way to go BC!

Immigration resources - A nifty little set of links (BC oriented) for those starting their journey.

One Stop Canada - this site claims to either have it all, or have it linked! Too exhaustive to even dent, this one will keep you busy and get you informed.

Please let me know if these sorts of posts help you!

...days and counting!

What day is today? It's the day our application was submitted to Immigration Canada!

After the work and worry and wait for everything to be just right, proofed and considered again, the application is complete and ready and the courier came to our Toronto lawyer's office and delivered it to the CIC.

I'm so nervous and excited. So here's my prayer - I believe if you read it and agree with it, then God will continue to remember it. If you are in this process too, may this also be your prayer:

"Lord, please bless this application. You said in the Psalms, "Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this." The desire of my heart is to be able to build a life in Canada with my love, whom you brought to me. Please place this application in compassionate hands. Please open the hearts of those who would pass judgement over my love and I. Please, in your mercy, allow this application to be successful, that I may be united with my love soon. Thank you for your mercy and for the love you have brought to my life. Thank you for every good thing you have always done for me. Thank you for your son, Jesus, who gave everything for me and my love. Lord, hear my prayer."

Thank you everyone who has been so encouraging to me through the years of this blog.

Here we go! ....days, and counting!

Update: reasons to leave the US - slave labor

I posted a few weeks back about the US having attained the unenviable position as the top country in the world for imprisioning it's own people. Through "get tough on crime" initiatives, mandatory minimum sentances which take away the descrection of judges, and "strikes" laws (one, two, three - you're out - sorry - you're IN for LIFE), one in every 31 American adults is now in jail or prison.

Once the convicted have served their time, the new industry of background checks (driven by the insurance industry) keeps anyone with a criminal record from ever getting a decent job again.

So what does the US population think of this? Well I can only tell you about my state, Washington. In a state election on Tuesday, voters approved a measure that allows the state to contract with private employers to provide prisoners for the production of goods.

See - the prisoners owe the state restitution for their crimes - often amounting to tens of thousands of dollars. Since they wont get a job on the outside to pay what they owe, the state wants them to work it off on the inside.

Now in principal this would be fine (job training, the ability to earn a living), except that the state only pays the prisoners pennies per hour for the work they do - NOT the state's minimum wage, and that the firms that hire the prisoners INSIDE will never hire them outside, once they have completed their sentances.

What this amounts to is state-sponsored slave labor.

I don't recognize my country anymore.